Dallas Fort Worth Insurance Lawyer Blog

Out Of State Auto Insurance

December 26, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

What if someone in Mesquite, Garland, Keller, Flower Mound, Haslet, Newark, Benbrook, Hutchins, Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, Grand Prairie, or Rockwall is involved in an accident with a driver from Arkansas or some other state? Does that other state insurance have to pay a claim here in Texas if the driver is a family member and the other state’s policy allows an exclusion for family members? Let’s see what Texas says.

The best guidance for the above situation is found in a 1992, Austin Court of Appeals case. The style of the case is, National County Mutual Fire Insurance Company and Consumers County Mutual Insurance Company v. Randall Johnson.

The question in the case for the court to decide was: Does a family-member exclusion in an automobile insurance policy contravene the public policy set forth in the Texas Safety Responsibility Act, which requires liability insurance coverage for all damages that arise out of the operation of a motor vehicle?

Life Insurance – Misrepresentation In Application

December 23, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

Anybody with life insurance in Dallas, Fort Worth, Grand Praire, Arlington, Weatherford, Garland, Mesquite, Mansfield, or anywhere else in Texas who has life insurance would have had to fill out an application for that insurance. So what happens if the life insurance company denies benefits under that policy and cites the reason as there being a misrepresentation in the application for the policy? Continue reading to get some guidance as to what might happen.

For a life insurance company to establish misrepresentation by the insured as legally sufficient grounds for denying benefits, the life insurance company must prove five elements in any lawsuit brought trying to get the benefits paid to the benficiary. Here are those five elements:

1) the making of a misrepresentation;

Life Insurance Exclusions For Pilots

December 21, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

Does anybody in Dallas, Fort Worth, Grand Prairie, Arlington, Irving, Mesquite, Garland, Cedar Hill, Duncanville, De Soto, Lancaster, or anywhere in Texas have a pilot’s license? The answer is yes. So the next question is, “Are they covered in their life insurance policy if they die in an airplane crash?” The answer to that is, “It depends.”

All insurance policies are going to have “exclusions”. These exclusions will limit the responsibility of the life insurance company to pay death benefits when these exclusions may apply.

This issue came up in the case, American Home Assurance Company v. Loretta Anne Brandt. This is an older case which was decided in 1989 by the Texarkana Court of Appeals. The exclusion in this case excluded coverage by the following provision: “LIMITED AIR TRAVEL COVERAGE: Insurance provided under the policy includes riding as a passenger, but not as a pilot or crew member in, including boarding or alighting from, or being struck by, any aircraft.”

Insurance Companies Doing It Again – Raising Rates

December 19, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

Insureds in Weatherford, Aledo, Arlington, Azle, Grand Prairie, Dallas, Fort Worth, Mansfield, Bedford, Hurst, Euless, Grapevine, and any other place in Texas will be upset to find out that their insurance rates are going up again. And it is going up in spite of record profits the insurance companies are making. It’s not like they are losing money.

The Austin American Statesman published an article on Wednesday, December 15, 2010. The title of the article is, “Allstate Raising Homeowner Insurance Rates.” This article appears to be reprinted from the Associated Press.

The article informs the reader that Allstate Insurance has notified the Texas Department of Insurance that it will increase homeowner rates. Some of the increases will be up to 10 percent.

Auto Liability Insurance

December 18, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

How much coverage does someone in Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, Grand Prairie, Mansfield, Cleburne, Mesquite, or anywhere else in Texas have on their automobile policy? The answer would depend on what type of coverage you are talking about. There are different coverage amounts based on what a person wants and what is available. Let’s look at just auto liability coverage.

The Austin American Statesman published an article that ran on December 13, 2010. The title of the article is, “Mandatory Auto Liability Coverage to Rise in New Year.” The article was written by Tim Eaton.

According to a 2007 law, authored by former State Senator Kip Averitt, the minimal liabilty coverage that can be sold in Texas raises to $30,000 for each injured person, $60,000 per accident and $25,000 for property damage.

Credit Life And Disability Policy

December 16, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

When someone in Grand Prairie, Fort Worth, Dallas, Benbrook, Crowley, Cedar Hill, Newark, Cedar Hill, Weatherford, Aledo, Azle, Lake Worth, or anywhere else in Texas buys a car or truck on credit, the dealership will always offer the purchaser the option of getting a credit life and disability insurance policy. The purpose of this type of insurance policy is to pay off the loan if the purchaser dies before paying off the loan or makes the loan payments if the borrower becomes disabled while the debt is still owing.

A case from the Court of Appeals of Georgia issued an opinion on June 30, 2010, where this type of policy was the subject of a lawsuit. The style of the case is Resource Life Insurance Company v. Buckner et al. This was a class action lawsuit.

Here is some background. In early 2001, Dorothy Buckner purchased a car and financed it with a loan. As part of that transaction, Buckner bought both a credit life and a credit disability insurance policy from Resource Life Insurance Company (Resource). In November 2001, Buckner’s automobile was totaled and her debt on the car was extinguished, thereby triggering the automatic cancellation of the Resource policies. At that time, Resource owed Buckner a refund of her unearned premium in the amount of $1,213.60. Based upon an alleged mathematical error by the automobile dealer who issued the refund on Resource’s behalf, Buckner did not receive the entire amount she was owed.

Disability Insurance Claim

December 14, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

Anyone in Dallas, Fort Worth, Grand Prairie, Arlington, Mansfield, De Soto, Richardson, Garland, Mesquite, Burleson, or anywhere else in Texas, who purchases a disability insurance policy may be interested in the reasoning and interpretation of the following case.

On November 29, 2010, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued an opinion in the case styled, Bruce Leipzig, M.D. v Principle Life Insurance Company.

From a legal standpoint this case was won by Principle Life Insurance Company (Principle) at the trial court and then was appealed by Dr. Leipzig. He lost on appeal.

Suicide And Life Insurance Claim Denial

December 12, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

Suicide by someone in Arlington, Dallas, Fort Worth, Grand Prairie, Keller, Roanoke, Aledo, Burleson, Granbury, or anywhere else in Texas. Does that negate an insurance policy?

The first thing anybody should know about life insurance and suicide is that if life insurance benefits are denied because the cause of death was a suicide, the intended beneficiary should seek the advice of an experienced Insurance Law Attorney.

The Texas Insurance Code, Section 1101.055(b), says in part:

Beneficiary And Life Insurance

December 11, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

Here’s a question someone in Fort Worth, Dallas, Arlington, Grand Prairie, Mansfield, Lake Worth, Azle, Grapevine, or anywhere else in Texas might ask. When is someone considered dead for purposes of collecting on a life insurance policy?

Let’s start with this. For an intended beneficiary under an insurance policy to collect death benefits the insured must be dead. But what if there is no body? Also doubt about the death may arise when there is uncertainty over the identity of a body. This was the case in a 1987 Texas Supreme Court case styled, Davidson v. Great National Life Insurance Company. This was also an issue in the 1892 United States Supreme Court case, Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York v. Hillmon.

Legal presumptions can aid in determining whether a death has occurred. In the Texas Civil Practices & Remedies Code, Section 133.001, some help is found. This section says, “Any person absenting himself for seven consecutive years shall be presumed dead unless it is proved that the person was alive within the seven-year period.

Criminal Acts And Automobile First Party Insurance

December 9, 2010 | Mark S. Humphreys

Victims of crime in Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, Grand Prairie, Mansfield, Bedford, Hurst, Euless, Burleson, Granbury, or other places in Texas might wonder, What happens if I get injured when I am the victim of a crime? The answer is a lawerly answer: It depends.

The Pittsburg Tribune-Review published an article on December 1, 2010, that gave some insight into a possible answer to the above question. The article was authored by Rich Cholodofsky and is titled, “Firm Denies Benefits To Mt. Pleasant Township Family of Slain Samaritan.”

According to the article, an Erie insurance company asked a Westmoreland County judge for permission to withhold benefits to the family of a Good Samaritan who was shot to death as she tried to assist the wife and daughter of her alleged killer.